Sentencing delayed in drug raid case

Sentencing was continued for a woman who admitted to three counts of sales of a controlled substance after her attorney questioned the way she was caught.

Melissa Ann White, 42, has been in custody since a May drug raid on her Helman Drive home.

Attorney Justin Oakes said the confidential informant involved in transactions involving up to 2 ounces from White was a friend who consumed drugs with her.

“I don’t want to minimize Miss White’s behavior,” Oakes said. “The three counts of sales of a controlled substance reflects the wrongfulness of her behavior.”

But he claimed the informant was arrested in Carson City and that White and the informant used drugs immediately after the transaction.

Prosecutor Patrick Ferguson pointed out that informants used in drug buys were no angels.

“We don’t send Sunday school teachers in to buy drugs from drug dealers,” he said. “We send drug users, so this is not atypical.”

District Judge Tod Young ordered a Jan. 22, 2021, hearing, where White can testify and Young will determine whether White goes to prison. She faces up to 18 years on the three charges.

White has a prison record for selling controlled substances in Douglas County.

• A California parolee received a suspended 19-48 month prison sentence on Tuesday.

Frederico Charles Horny, 37, broke into a vehicle at Lake Tahoe after being convicted of several similar crimes.

“Mr. Horny did a very stupid thing and it looks like he’d done them before, attorney Adam Spicer said.

Spicer said Horny was released on parole from California prison in May 2020 after serving three years of his sentence.

He paid $200 toward the $378.96 in restitution. In Nevada, a vehicle burglary is a misdemeanor, but subsequent convictions are felonies.

• A man who gave deputies a false ID during a traffic stop at Lake Tahoe on Sept. 11 admitted the charge on Tuesday.

Walter Ray Jones Jr. pleaded guilty to a count of obtaining the personal information of another person to delay or avoid prosecution.

According to court documents, Jones used someone else’s drivers license to avoid being taken into custody. It didn’t work. Sentencing was set for Feb. 16, 2021.